A solid group of returning letterwinners should put
the Flying Dutchmen in contention to challenge for the Michigan
Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) championship.
The first of eight league tournaments will be hosted by Albion
on Tuesday (Sept. 15). Hope will host the tournament on Monday,
Sept. 28 at the Wuskowhan Player's Club.
A year ago the Flying Dutchmen were second in the eight-team
MIAA field for the team's best finish since 1991. Coach Bob Ebel's
Flying Dutchmen won two conference tournaments. League champion
Olivet went on to finish seventh in the NCAA Division III national
tournament.
The pre-season roster includes six returning letterwinners.
Sophomore Andy Nietring of East Grand Rapids, (East Grand Rapids
HS) earned All-MIAA second team honors in his first collegiate
season by finishing eighth among the league's golfers.
Teammates Ben Fellows, a junior from DeWitt (Lansing Eastern
HS), and Mike Feyen, a sophomore from East Grand Rapids (Grand
Rapids Christian HS), finished 13th and 16th respectively in last
year's league standings. During the course of the season Feyen and
Nietring were co-medalists in a conference tournament.
Other returning letterwinners include sophomore Mike Evans of
Rochester (Rochester Hills HS), senior Mark Piersma of Kentwood
(East Kentwood HS), and junior Josh Wheeler of Watervliet
(Watervliet HS).
Players new to the team include freshman Christian DenOuden of
Des Moines, Iowa (Des Moines Christian), sophomore Chris Rutan of
Ann Arbor (Pioneer HS), and Eric Wohlfield of Brighton (Brighton
HS).